Who Is Mayella Ewell In To Kill A Mockingbird

In 1960 when To Kill A Mockingbird was published, it became to what many critics and readers regard as an American literature masterpiece. The characters in this novel have certainly influenced the lives of many people. The book is told from the perspective of Scout Finch, a young, little girl who lives in Maycomb County, Alabama. The story tells of her and her brother, Jem, growing up with a mysterious neighbor that never comes outside, living a southern town of racial prejudice and having a very influential father who is a lawyer that defended a black man in a time of such racial tension. Bob Ewell is a lazy, rude and poor man and the town despises him and his family. When he falsely accuses, Tom Robinson, a black farmworker of raping

Upon careful examination anyone can see that Mayella Ewell deserves the sympathy of the readers because she is the one spot of brightness in Ewell family, a lonely young woman and a victim of domestic

The even live next to a garbage dump. All of the Ewell children only go to school one day every year. Bob Ewell, whose full name is literally Robert E. Lee Ewell, lives off of welfare which he mostly spends on alcohol. With no mother all the Ewell children are expected to grow up and act just like their father according to Southern culture. None of Ewells are even given a chance by their society to fit in or become bright children. Mayella Ewell on the other hand is the speck of light in their family. She wants to be seen as someone better than an Ewell. In the garbage dump she lives in, their is nothing visually pleasing about the place, as it is a dump. “One corner of the yard, though, bewildered Maycomb. Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudie Atkinson deigned to permit a geranium on her premises. People said they were Mayella Ewell’s.” (Chapter 17 Page 228) Mayella has spent some time trying to make her home look nice while all the other Ewells dont care at all. This shows that she wants something of hers to be noticed. While her family is a disgrace to the town, she has tried to fit into her society, she doesnt want to be known as another dirty Ewell. “Mr. Ewell had a scalded look; as if an overnight, soaking had deprived him of protective layers of